the heart has dreams of it's own

Your heart has dreams of it's own. Do you have a place of such deep dreaming that it is something the rational mind cannot understand? I spent many years living in my ancestral home of Scotland and even though I journeyed to the sacred isle of Iona I did not visit her sister island of Staffa. And yet I dream about her constantly, I travel to her in visions to sit inside the basalt temple of Fingal's Cave, the Cathedral Cave. Last night I spoke to a dear sister about this dreaming cave and how I feel I will finally journey to her next year. How I long to swim in the freezing turquoise waters, to sing into the stone arch... it is a place my heart remembers, it is a home of Swan Blessing.

I would love to know more of these Dreaming places...where are yours? Let's share them here and here. Below are some of the songs of Julianna Barwick including her latest release 'Forever' - this is the music I hear with Swan Medicine, I imagine this to be the sound that fills the Cathedral Cave. it is the sound of the Place of Dreaming calling me Home.

When the Dream is Real

Fingal's Cave on Staffa Island, Hebrides

Yesterday I awoke early and instead of getting up began to meditate and fell back into a state of half-dreaming that I find to be very potent for receiving messages, symbols and visions. In this dream/vision I found myself at the most beautiful cove protected by huge volcanic towering columns of stone. It was full moon and the sea was flowing in, around the shore were skulls on staffs. When I woke up I knew that I had seen those cliffs before and remembered a trip to the spiritual island of Iona in Scotland. From Iona you can see an island in the distance. I knew instantly this island known as Staffa was the home of the cove that had appeared in my dream.

In the mouth of the cave looking out to the Isle of Iona

Staffa was named from the Old Norse for staff or staves, a pillar island whose volcanic basalt columns reminded the Vikings of log staffs. As I began to look at images of Staffa i was drawn to photographs of the island's main sea cave, Fingal's Cave as they captured the energy or essence of the dream. The dream's message was about recognising the beauty and majesty of the natural world in comparison to our addiction to being indoors or looking for 'magic' in man-made tools or items. The original gaelic name for Fingal's Cave is An Uamh Bhin - 'the melodious cave'. In 1832, composer Felix Mendelssohn was so inspired by the sound of the waves in the cathedral-like cave that he wrote Hebrides Overture opus.

I am still working with the message of this powerful dream, a vision sent to me by my Scottish ancestors - no doubt symbolised by the skulls, the bones of my ancestors on the staffs (Staffa - hinting at the name so that I could find it quickly) on the shore. Make time for your dreams, they are very special, potent and helpful.

May your dreams tonight lead to you to the wild places of own heart and blood.

Oceans of Love, Julia